"...and there was no one around him?"

I found myself stirring out of what felt like an extremely deep sleep; not one that proved refreshing, however, as the moment I began to move my sides began to ache.

"No sir, no one." a familiar voice spoke up.

I tried my best to sit up, opening my eyes and looking around at my surroundings. My vision was blurred at first, but I found myself lying on a flat bunk in what looked like the medical ward. Across the room stood an officer in a long, white coat which seemed to reach down to his knees. Standing opposite him was someone familiar; Siegfried Gladen, a friend of mine.

I rubbed my eyes, and tried my best to focus on their conversation. The man in the coat seemed to be taking notes as Siegfried responded to his questions, though neither of them noticed that I'd risen yet.

"Very well" the officer responded.

"Is he going to be alright?"

"Well, after an X-Ray and a cat scan he seems to be fine, just some bruises. The boy was lucky he didn't break any-"

It was at that point that the officer looked towards me and stopped speaking mid-sentence, taking a moment to look me over before heading towards me, clipboard under his arm. I watched as they both walked down the long aisle of cots, a few guys lying on them piecemeal, though most of them seemed sound asleep. I tried to look around for a window to see what time it was, though they all seemed to be above and behind my head, and trying to turn caused nothing but pain.

"Corporal" the officer stated, catching my attention as he stood in front of my cot.

"Sir" I responded, looking at him earnestly.

"He moved towards me and sat on the edge of the cot next to me, looking at me with a smile as he flipped through the papers on his board.

"How are you feeling, son?" he questioned.

"Doing alright, sir. Am I okay?"

"Yes you are. Friedrich, correct?"

"Yes sir."

"Good, good. You're beat up pretty badly, but outside of bruising and a possible sprain, you seem to be alright. Your scans showed up nothing broken."

"Thank god" I responded half-heartidly.

"You know, you're very lucky that your friend over here found you. Had he not you might have still been on the ground of the washroom. What happened?"

"Uh-" I sputtered with my words. "I, uh..."

I didn't continue my sentence. The doctor looked at me almost knowingly, though he seemed to be trying to garner some sort of response with his look.

"I got in a bit of a scrap."

"Thats an understatement" He responded quickly. "You're a bit more beaten up than having been in a scrap. You've been here before for things like this."

I nodded, not responding. He looked at me, again, for a response, though this time I didn't provide one.

After a bit, he looked over to Siegfried, who seemed to be waiting for his chance to speak to me. I looked at him and smiled; he was one of my few friends left in this school, especially after what happened with Erik.

The doctor sighed, and rose from the cot he sat on, remarking "Just try to win next time, son. You're our champion boxer, after all."

I sighed, nodding. I looked up at Siegfried as he slowly walked past the Doctor and took his place on the cot next to me. He folding his hands together and looked me up and down.

"Those are some pretty gnarly bandages there, Friedrich" he said, pointing towards my chest.

I looked down, having not realized there was anything there to begin with. A large bandage was wrapped around my torso, going up at an angle towards my rips on the left side. I ran my hand across the rough, thick fabric, sighing.

"Whats going on, Friedrich? How come you haven't spoken to me recently?"

I looked over at Siegfried and just stared at him a bit, before shaking my head. I didn't really have an answer that was acceptable; in truth, I had been sort of avoiding him. He had recently been promoted to the position of Divisional Commander, and that meant he had a lot of duties and a lot of new, powerful friends. I, on the other hand, had a bad reputation for what had happened between Erik and I, and didn't want to mess up his new chances. I understood that sometimes you had to drop something, or someone, on your way up the ladder.

"Well" I stammered for words "I just figured you were busy with your new position and all"

"Not too busy to chill with you, dude" he remarked. I looked him up and down; his jet black uniform was adorned with several youth awards, including a purple ribbon above his tunic's pocket. He had been one of our countries Olympic athletes, competing on the baseball team and getting all the way to the final game against the United States. Though they lost, he came back a national hero.

"I don't really know. You've got a lot of new friends to hang out with anyway, why do you need me?" I questioned.

He sighed, then looked at me seemingly trying to find something to say.

Siegfried was someone who had always been by me, and during the case he had stayed with when everyone else seemed to peel away. I had become spoiled fruit that everyone in the market avoided, but he at least found some value in me, which I was grateful for. Had I not had him and the few others whom had stuck by me, I don't know what I would have done.

"You've been my friend since the first week you arrived. Your being gay isn't going to change that"

I smiled. It felt like the first time I had smiled in quite awhile.

"Besides, that just means more girls for my bed" he joked, winking at me.

Siegfried was gorgeous. Tall, he always seemed to be in perfect condition. He had short hair that turned brown when it was grown out, and was in great physical condition. Without a shirt on he looked even better, a well-defined set of abs hidden beneath his tunic. I reminded him often how lucky he was, and he admitted to me once that it helped his self esteem quite a bit. It was a sign that we were close; most guys around here don't admit feelings at all. In the end, despite how good he looked, he was a friend, and that mattered more to me than anything else.

Besides, he was straight. I wasn't going to be getting any of that any time soon.

"So the hells been going on?" He questioned, breaking the silence that surrounded us.

"What do you mean?" I returned.

"You know what I mean. You're bruised beyond belief and its the off season."

"Its not that bad"

"Dude, you look like you're getting the shit beaten out of you multiple times a week."

I fell silent, looking at him for a moment before breaking eye contact and looking down at my chest. It was true; my sides, stomach and chest were bruised beyond belief. It was way worse than it looked during peak season.

"I, uh-"

"Dont you dare lie to me, Friedrich. You didn't hurt yourself falling out of bed during reveille."

"I-"

"We've been friends for too long for that."

I looked at him and sighed.

"I'm a DC now, Friedrich. I can actually help. And I want to."

"You don't need to protect me, Siggi. I'm capable of doing that for myself."

I leaned back in surprise as he rose quickly, seemingly in anger.

"You can't fucking defend yourself from six guys beating the shit out of you" he spit out, glaring at me.

"You don't need to worry about that" I retorted.

He pointed right at the bandages around my chest, and remarked "Oh? And are those a sign of victory? How about the fact I found you naked on the ground and had to give you a pair of my-"

"Shut the hell up, Siegfried" I interrupted, raising my voice. "I didn't ask for your fucking help. I'm not a little boy, I'm a fucking champion boxer."

"Who understandably can't defend himself from a dozen guys ganging up on him. You're not fucking alone dude, there are people out there who care about you, just because this is the Academy doesn't mean you have to fight alone. This isn't the ring. Its fucking life, man."

"I-"

"I don't want to see you dead Friedrich" He said, staring at me. His anger seemed to wash out of his face, and he slowly sat back down on the cot next to me. I stared at him as he ran his hands across his face in frustration.

"I'm sorry" I muttered. "Its just... my personality". I slowly moved to the side of the cot, holding my side as my legs swung down off the bed and touched the floor. The white, waxed tile was cool to the touch and I lifted my foot up slightly in surprise before settling it back down.

He looked up and we locked eye contact for a few moments, before he finally responded.

"Your personality doesn't have to include being alone. Fuckin hang out with me man, I miss all of the fun shit we used to do together. And I guarantee the guys would love you."

"The guys?" I questioned.

"Yeah, the other divisional-"

"They're... not really my type."

"You've never hung out with them before, so how would you know?"

"They're all kids of super important people, dude. I'm just the son of a reactionary who..."

I paused.

He stared at me.

I didn't respond, trying to skirt the subject.

"Who went through some shit" he said, finishing my sentence.

"Who went through some shit" I repeated.

"Trust me. Some of them have mentioned you in conversation before. They hold no ill will towards you for what happened, most of them side with you on the subject."

"I came up in talk?" I questioned

"Yeah. Sort of by chance. They brought up a boxing match you competed in recently"

"The one with the guy from Mendelburg?"

"Yeah, where you broke his nose"

We both laughed together, and he reached across the aisle to slap me on the knee.

"The guys thought that was sick."

I smiled, soon responding "well, thats good."

"Now seriously. Promise me you'll-"

He stopped talking as the resounding noise of the large metal doors of the medical bay swung open. I looked over as Siegfried rose up, walking towards the figure that stood here.

He let out a resounding "Hey man, how are you?" to the figure standing there, and I looked him up and down as he and Siegfried shook hands.

The figure that stood in the window wore a jet-black uniform adorned with what seemed like innumerable medals and pins. He was about six-two, sun-tanned white skin, and brownish-blond hair that was styled in a psuedo-quiff to the side, the sides of his hair almost buzz-cut. When he spoke, his bleach-white teeth shone, almost matching the white tiling on the floor and lower walls.

"Doing alright man, heard you were here. You alright?" the figure questioned.

"Yeah man, just checking on a friend of mine." Siegfried responded. He pointed towards my cot and I with his hand, and I watched as he and the figure moved away from the doorway and towards me, the metal doors swinging back and forth behind them.

The figure moving towards me with Siegfried was undoubtedly him.

"What happened?" he questioned.

"Oh, Friedrich's... got some problems with some guys."

As they reached the foot of my bed, I slowly rose, though clearly in pain, and presented a salute. Standing before me was the Crown Prince; Albrecht, the future Emperor. The big-man on campus.

"Your Highness" I addressed him. I could feel my heart beating rapidly; Albrecht was the Crown Prince, but he was also gorgeous. Possibly the best looking guy in the whole academy, and I would be lying if I said I didn't have a massive thing for him.

"You're in the bay for a reason, sit down" the Prince seemingly ordered. I stood there, returning to an at-rest position with my hands behind my back. He looked me up and down and actually gave out a sigh.

"I said sit down, not stand at ease."

I stood there for a moment, but as he glared at me I complied, slowly sitting back down on the edge of the bed, then swinging my legs back onto it.

"So what happened?" he questioned me.

"Uh... I-"

Siegfried spoke up, interrupting me;

"A couple of Erik's old friends did a number to him. They've been doing it for awhile now, apparently."

"To our champion boxer?" Albrecht questioned, seemingly surprised. "There must have been a group of them."

He seemed to be more at ease now that I was lying back down on the cot, and

"Seven" I said, though admittedly quietly. I wanted to defend my honor in front of someone like him.

He reacted unexpectedly, seemingly exasperated. "Seven? The fuck is someone supposed to defend themselves against seven guys? Thats unacceptable. You'd think being academy attendees they'd at least have some level of honor."

I nodded slowly, not knowing what to say in response. I had always been taught that if I was to meet a royal, that I would speak to them only when spoken to. It took a lot not to be constantly saluting him right now, but I could tell he wouldn't appreciate it.

He turned towards Siegfried and remarked "Well, are we going? Thank god its friday, I want to get out of this damn thing and into some casual clothes" he said as he tugged on the tunic of his uniform.

Siegfried smiled, agreeing with him. He then turned to me, questioning "You wanna come?" before looking back at Albrecht and saying "if that's alright with you."

"Hell yeah, I've always wanted to talk to you about your boxing style" Albrecht said, looking at me.

"I'd love to" I responded, "but I don't think..." I sputtered off as I looked past them and to the doctor sitting at a small desk on the far side of the room, scribbling away on his papers.

"Oh." Albrecht said. "Well, maybe another time?"

"Absolutely" I responded. I looked at Siegfried and gave him a smile and a nod, assuring him it was alright that he could leave.

He looked hesitant at first, but after a moment he walked over and shook my hand, leaning forward and hugging me. I hugged back.

"See you soon" He said as he leaned back out. I nodded, and looked over at Albrecht as he stood next to me. He extended his hand, and I shook it.

"Let me know if you have any more trouble, alright Friedrich?" He questioned.

"Yes your highness."

"Its Albrecht, Alright?" he stated as he looked at me, hand still firmly gripping mine.

"Alright..."

He smiled, and let go. A few moments later, they were out the door with a wave goodbye.

I sighed as my heart rate started to decline back to normal. That was the first time I had ever interacted with someone with the royal family on a person-to-person basis. From a cultural standpoint, that was supposed to be an honor. From a personal standpoint, it was somewhat nerve-racking. I was lucky I hadn't popped a massive boner in the middle of saluting him.